PASADENA, California - When the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) held a robotics contest in December, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory entered RoboSimian, also known as "Clyde." Clyde has four feet but can stand on two, four moveable limbs, and hands that can move and manipulate objects. In the video above, wtch Clyde do his thing in the "disaster response" category where he had to turn a valve, travel over uneven terrain and open a door.

For all his skills and cool design, Clyde only finished fifth in the competition. See No. 1 in action in the video below.